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Livestock Siting Program Gains Engineering Expertise

Engineer available to help producers site new or expanded livestock facilities.

Jul 16, 2007

Wisconsin farmers, consultants and local government involved in the siting of new or expanded livestock operations will all benefit from the engineering background and experience of Steve Struss, recently selected by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection as the livestock facility siting engineer.

"We created this siting engineer position as part of our continued commitment to support the implementation of the livestock facility siting law," says Richard Castelnuovo, resource planning section chief. "Steve will work with the livestock siting program manager to ensure that the program is meeting the needs of farmers and local governments, the key groups affected by the law. These groups will also benefit from improved services from our department including additional outreach, training and support," Castelnuovo says.

Struss is a veteran DATCP engineer, bringing a wealth of experience to this position including work on the state's odor standard and 16 years of designing farm conservation practices.

"I will be available to help farmers and their consultant complete worksheets related to odor, manure storage and runoff management. These worksheets are required as part of the local permit application when an existing livestock farm would like to expand or if a new livestock operation would like to begin," Struss says. "I will also assist local governments better understand and resolve the technical questions involving siting applications."

Finally, Struss will also be responsible for evaluating new technologies related to manage manure and odor control. He has already begun conducting on-site farm evaluations to collect information that will help farmers and guide policy decisions about state odor standards.